Method and apparatus for manufacturing honeycomb structures

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for manufacturing honeycomb structures from a continuous web of material consisting of a machine for providing transverse parallel perforations at preselected intervals along a web of material, applying adhesive stripes in staggered relationship on opposite sides of the material, and subsequently folding the material in an accordion-like manner along the perforation lines so that adjacent faces of the material are bonded in a glue-to-glue relationship, and processing the material slowly in its compressed form at the output chute of the machine.

United States Patent 1191 Carbone 1111 3,770,549 1 Nov. 6, 1973 METHODAND APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING HONEYCOMB STRUCTURES {75] Inventor:Angelo F. Carbone, Brooklyn, NY.

[73] Assignee: Emmanuele Fallacaro, Commack,

Long Island, NY.

22 Filed: on. 20, 1971 211 App]. No.: 190,856

2,734,843 2/1956 Steele 156/197 2,599,720 6/1952 Drevost 242/68.4 X2,874,408 2/1959 Vieli et al. 156/474 X 3,166,456 1/1965 White et a1.156/197 X Primary Examiner-Alfred L. Leavitt Assistant Examiner-David A.Simmons Attorney-Allison C, Collard [57] ABSTRACT A method and apparatusfor manufacturing honeycomb structures from a continuous web of materialconsisting of a machine for providing transverse parallel perforationsat preselected intervals along a web of material, applying adhesivestripes in staggered relationship on opposite sides of the material, andsubsequently folding the material in an accordion-like manner along theperforation lines so that adjacent faces of [56] References Cited th t lb d d l t l I t,

e ma eria are on e in a g ueo-g ue re a ions 1p, UNITED STATES PATENTSand processing the material slowly in its compressed zfi 318; form atthe output chute of the machine. ran am 2,800,418 7/1957 Cannon 118/412X 10 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures l9 I i 18 Kg 1 7 8/ 20 l 24 2 5 0$ 17 5 S0 a PATENTED NOV 6 m5 SHEET 10F 2 INVENTOR.

ANGELO F. CARBONE W ATTORNEY.

PATENTEDMUY 6 I975 SHEET .2 BF 2 INVENTOR. ANGELO F CARBONE ATTORNEY.

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING HONEYCOMB STRUCTURES Thisinvention relates to a method and apparatus for use in making honeycombstructures from a continuous web of material.

More specifically, this invention relates to a method and apparatus forfabricating honeycomb structures from a continuous web of material whichis adhesively bonded on both sides, scored at predetermined intervals,and folded against its adhesively striped surfaces to form an improvedhoneycomb structure;

Hexagonal cellular honeycomb structures are well known for their highstrength-to-weight ratio and such structrues have been employed forvarious applications in many fields, such as in the aircraft andarchitectural industries. Conventional celluloid honeycomb structuresare formed from suitable core material in which relatively dense, highstrength material strips or sheets are arranged to form hexagonal-shapedcells in which the full strength of the wall defining the cells areutilized to produce tensile and compressive strength in the direction ofthe cell axis. In conventional apparatus for making honeycombstructures, layers of strips of material, or sheets of material aresecured together in staggered relationship in the form of a stack sothat the stack may later be expanded into the cellular space. Theexpansion is effected by pulling the opposite, outermost layers ofstacked sheet material away from each other so that'the individual cellsare formed as the multiple layers are separated.

Conventional honeycomb structures are usually made by laminating a stackof flat ribbons of material, together at staggered bond or node points.Other conventional honeycomb devices utilize a paper web and cuttingmechansim for cutting sheets of material, applying adhesive to thesheets in a staggered relationship, and pressing the sheets together toform a bonded structure. These conventional methods and machines formaking honeycomb structures suffer from the disadvantage of having lowproduction yields. Moreover, the conventional methods and apparatus arenot readily adaptable to continuous operation and require an excessiveamount of man hours for their operation.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a method and apparatus forproducing high yields of strong honeycomb structures in continuousproduction from a continuous'web of material. The apparatus of theinvention includes a spindle for holding a large roll of material, suchas paper, aluminum and the like, which is initially scored along itswidth at predetermined parallel intervals, and then painted with anadhesive bonding material on both sides in staggered relationship. Theweb of material is then fed into a pair of opposed folding arms whichoperate alternately to fold the material web in an accordion-like manneralong its.

strength.

It is another object according to the present invention to provide amethod and apparatus for producing honeycomb structures in a continuousoutput from a web of material.

It is a further object according to the present invention to provide anapparatus which continuously produces honeycomb structures at very highyields.

Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparentfrom the following detailed description considered in connection withthe accompanying drawings which disclose the embodiments of theinvention. It is to be understood, however, that the drawings aredesigned for the purpose of illustration only and not as a definition ofthe limits of the invention.

In the drawings, wherein similar reference characters denote similarelements throughout the several views;

FIG. 1 is a side plan view partly in schematic form of the method andapparatus of the subject invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along section 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along section 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along section 4-4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a detailed plan view of the adhesive distribution system ofthe method and apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5A is another embodiment of the adhesive distribution system of theinvention;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along section 66 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along section 7--7 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 8 is a detailed side view of the folding apparatus of the inventionas shown in FIGS. 7 and 1.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a roll of material 11 mountedpivotably upon spindle 55 at one end of housing of the machine. A dragbrake 12 contacts the upper surface of the roller as a sheet of materialis pulled off roll lll over roller 13. Roller 13 is mounted on atensioning am 14 which is pivotably connected to frame 10 adjacent tospindle 55.

Spindle 55, as shown in detail in the cross-sectional viewof FIG. 2,actually includes a centering mechansim and tensioning device in orderto accommodate different types of rolls of material. At each end ofspindle are large typing handles 56 which are engaged on the end ofshaft 57. Shaft 57 is mounted by means of ball bearings 59 and theiraccompanying ball bearing raceways 60 and 61 on the sidewalls of housing10. Po-

sitioned at each end of the hollow axis of the roll of material 11 aretapered hubs 62 slidably mounted on shaft 57. The ends of shafts 57 arethreadably engaged to cylindrical blocks 58 which are welded to internalshaft 157. Thus, the roll of material 11 can both be centered on shafts57 by means of tapered hubs 62 and positioned to the proper place alongthe axis of axle 57 for proper alignment with the honeycomb machine.

The sheet or web of material 15 then passes over rollers l6 and 17, andthen fed between a perforating roller 17 and its accompanying pressureroller 18, pivotably mounted in housing 10.

Pressure roller 18 and perforating roller 19 are shown in detail in FIG.3. Perforating roller 19 is pivotably supported at each end on axles 67by ball bearings 69 within housing 10. A cutting or perforating blade66, which in this embodiment is shown as a saw-tooth blade, is disposedalong the length of perforating roller 19. It is obvious that more thanone blade can be disposed on the surface of perforating roller 19.Pivotably mounted adjacent to perforating roller 19 is a pressure roller18 preferably having a resilient or rubber surface 65. The pivotableends 68 of pressure roller 18 are mounted by means of ball bearings 70in frame 10. The elastic surface 65 of roller 18 is larger in diameterthan roller 19 and includes one or more longitudinal slots 118 (FIG. 1)to receive perforating blade 66. In this embodiment of the invention, asingle blade 66 is provided on roller 19, whereas roller 18 is twice thediameter or roller 19, so that two longitudinal slots 118 are formed inthe elastic surface 65, at 180 intervals to receive blade 66.

Referring back to FIG. 1, there is shown a pump 20 which appliespressure to an adhesive 22 stored within reservoir 21. The output 23 ofreservoir 21 feeds a pair of adhesive lines 24 and 25 which areconnected to adhesive manifolds 26 and 36 respectively. The firstadhesive manifold 26 couples to a plurality of elbow fittings 27 whichare spaced apart on the top surface of the manifold andconnectedrespectively to adhesive distribution nozzles 29, in contact withmaterial 15 as it moves around pressure roller 18. An adhesive catchbasin 28 is located below nozzle 29 to catch any excess adhesive whichmay drip off from material 15.

The second adhesive manifold 36 is similarly connected to a plurality ofelbow fittings 37 which are joined to nozzles 39 for applying adhesivestrips along material 15 against pressure roller 30. As shown in detailin FIG. 4, pressure roller 30 comprises a plurality of sidc-by-sideresilient rollers 77 which are spaced apart and aligned with nozzles 39of adhesive distributor 36. Roller 30 is pivotably coupled at each endby means of axle 75 to frame 10 in ball bearing assemblies 76. Theadhesive stripes 22 which have been formed on web 15 from the first setof nozzles 29 pass freely between the slots formed between elasticrollers 77.

FIG. is a detailed view of types of nozzles which may be employed tostripe web 15 with adhesive material. Nozzle 139 has a large contactingsurface for applying the adhesive to web 15, whereas nozzle 239, whichalso may be connected to couplings 78 and 79, has a smaller contactingsurface. In an actual embodiment of the invention, where web 15 was fireretardant Kraft paper, the adhesive used was 80 per cent solid, andapplied under a pressure of approximately between 50 and 60 pounds tothe manifold. The adhesive is applied by a capillary action against bothsurfaces of web 15 as the web is drawn across the nozzle opening. Theadhesive is thus evenly and accurately striped onto the web surface andvery little excess of adhesive is produced in catch pans 28 and 38.

An alternate form of applying adhesive to web 15 is shown in FIG. 5A,whereby a striping roller 130 pivots in an adhesive bath 22 and is urgedagainst roller 30. The adhesive is contained in a basin 122 disposedbelow striping roller 130. Stripping roller 130 would obviously containa plurality of side-by-side spacedapart rollers similar to rollers 77,but narrower in width.

Referring to FIG. 6, web 15 which has been striped on both sides ofadhesive 22, and hereinafter referred to as web 33, passes between driverollers 32 and 31 which are pivotably mounted on axles 132 and 131within the frame by means of ball bearings 130 and 133 respectively.Rollers 177 are preferably formed on drive roller 32 of a resilient orrubber-like material and spaced apart between the adhesive stripes 22 onone side of web 33. In a similar manner, side-by-side rollers 178 ondrive roller 31 are staggered with respect to rollers 177 and alsospaced apart between adhesive stripes 22 on the opposite side of web 33.In this manner, none of the adhesive contaminates the drive rollers.

Referring briefly back to FIG. 1, there is shown a main drive motor 43which in one of the preferred embodiments is a DC motor of 2-3horsepower connected to a gear reduction box 42 and powered by avariable speed control circuit. A chain 41 is coupled to rollers 31 and32 over idler sprocket 49. Chain 41 forms a closed loop around driveroller 17, pressure roller 18 and perforating roller 19, and aroundsprockets 101 and 100 which operate folding arms 35 and 34 respectively.Sprocket 101 drives lever 40 which includes cam pins mounted on eachend, for contact with pawl 50 connected to shaft 82. In a similarmanner, sprocket 100 drives lever 48 so that its cam pins mounted oneach contact pawl 51 mounted on crankshaft 80. Crankshafts and 82, asshown in detail in FIG. 7, are pivotably mounted within frame 10 of theapparatus housing by means of ball bearing assemblies 81 and 83respectively. Mounted on the offset portion of shaft 80 are a pluralityof spaced-apart folding arms 34. In a similar manner, a plurality offolding arms 35 are geared to alternate with respect to arms 34. Arms 35are spaced apart to fall between adhesive stripes 22 on one surface ofweb 33, while folding arms 34 are staggered with respect to arms 35, andlikewise fall between the adhesive stripes on the opposite side of web33. In that manner, none of the folding arms comes into contact with theadhesive applied to web 33.

Referring back to FIG. 1, a second drive motor 52 is provided, coupledto gear box 44 so as to drive an endless chain 104 which is coupled todrive rollers 46 and 47. Drive rollers 46 and 47 are also pivotablycoupled to each side of chassis 10 and include resilient or fric-'tionally engaging surfaces, for engaging the folded or compressedhoneycomb structures as it moves down in arch-shaped outlet trough 54formed near the bottom of the machine. The speed in which motor 52operates is dependent upon the amount of sheet thickness folded byfolding arms 34 and 35. Chain 104 may also be coupled to motor 43 andadapted to operate in conjunction with the speed of the folding and thethickness of the web material being formed into the honeycomb structure.

Referring back to FIG. 7, as web material 33 is fed into the foldingarea from drive rollers 31 and 32, the folds occur at the perforationlines formed in spacedapart transverse intervals of web 33. The ends ofeach of the folding arms 34 and 35 include flexible metal curls 103 sothat the ends of the folding arms do not become entangled with thesurface of the web, but release freely in order to return to theirmomentary upright position. Folding arms 34 and 35, because they aremounted on the offset portion of shafts 80 and 82, move slightly upward,over web 33 before pressing downward to accomplish the fold along eachof the perforated lines.

The compressed honeycomb structure moves continuously along curvedoutput chute 54 and can be collected or sized whenever required. As theroll 11 of the web of material becomes exhausted, a new roll can beeasily dropped in place and spliced to the former roll by momentarilyshutting down the apparatus for a short interval of time. The housing ofthe machine could be adapted to receive a second roll 1 I, mounted abovethe first roll, to be held in reserve as the first roll is exhausted.

ln an actual embodiment of the present invention, the perforation rollerwas set to perforate the web of material at 8-inch intervals so that thefolds occurred in the folding area at 8-inch widths. Thus, thecompressed honeycomb structure which was formed has a depth of 8 inches.It is obvious from the dimensions provided for, the preferred embodimentthat the spacing between the perforations formed on the web of materialcan be varied, depending upon the number of cutting blades and thediameter of the perforation roller inserted in the apparatus. Likewise,the spacing of the adhesive manifolds and the width of the adhesivestripe can be varied to enlarge or make smaller the cells formed in theresultant honeycomb structure.

A lateral cutting machine is preferably located at the output of thepresent apparatus in order to cut the honeycomb to the desired depthrequired for architectural or aircraft use. The compressed honeycombstructure coming out of the output inventive machine can later beexpanded by well known techniques so that the perforated edges willeasily open to form strong honeycomb cells.

ln a full-size embodiment of the present invention a roll of webmaterial 72 inches wide, and weighing 2,000 pounds, was mounted onspindle 55 at one end of the machine. Running at 40 per cent full speed,the machine produced approximately 1,100 pounds of honeycomb structureper hour. The adhesivebonds formed between adjacent folds of the webbedmaterial are extremely strong since two common faces of the material arealways folded againsteach other with aligned adhesive stripes so that aglue-to-glue bond is formed rather than a paper-to-glue bond as inconventional machines. It has been found that before the bond could bebroken, the web of material has to be destroyed.

While only a few embodiments of the present invention havebeen shown anddescribed, it will be obvious that many changes and modifications may bemade thereunto without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention.

' What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for manufacturing honeycomb structure from a continuousweb of material and an adhesive comprising: 7

cutting means for forming at least a partial cut at spaced-aparttransverse intervals in the web of material,

a first nozzle emitting adhesive striping means for applying a firstplurality of longitudinally disposed adhesive strips spaced apart on atleast one side of the material,

a second nozzle emitting adhesive striping means for applying a secondplurality of longitudinally disposed adhesive stripes spaced apart onthe obverse side of said material, said second plurality of stripesbeing in staggered relationship with said first plurality of adhesivestripes,

folding means with fork-shaped arms, following said first and secondadhesive means for folding adjacent adhesively striped surfaces togetherin an accordion-like pattern while simultaneously applying pressure tothe fold to compress the adhesive bond,

said cutting means forming said cut before applying said adhesivestripes and,

incrimental output means following said folding arms engaging theopposite sides of said folded honeycomb structure for advancing saidfolded structure in proportion to the thickness of the material beingfolded, so that the folded honeycomb structure is continuously producedat the output of the apparatus.

2. The apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein said cutting meanscomprises a perforating roller, having at least one perforating bladeaxially disposed on its circumference, and a pressure roller mountedadjacent to said perforating roller for capturing the web of materialtherebetween so that the movement of said perforating edge against saidpressure roller forms a plurality of perforations in one side of saidweb.

3. The apparatus as recited in claim ll, wherein said first adhesivemeans comprises an adhesive distributor having a plurality ofspaced-apart nozzles in contact with the moving web of material, andpressure means for urging the adhesive into said distributor and throughsaid nozzles to form a plurality of spaced-apart parallel stripes on atleast one side of the material.

4. The apparatus as recited in claim 3, wherein said" second adhesivemeans comprises an adhesive distributor having a plurality ofspaced-apart nozzles in contact with said moving web of material andpressure means for urging said adhesive into said distributor andthrough said nozzles to form a plurality of spaced-apart parallelstripes on the obverse side of the material.

5. The apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein said folding meanscomprises a first plurality of parallel spaced-apart folding armspivotably coupled on one side of said perforated web of material andforming a first fork-shaped member and a second plurality of oppositelydirected parallel spaced-apart folding arms staggered with respect tosaid first set of folding arms and pivotably coupled for forming asecond forkshaped member to operate alternately with respect to saidfirst arms against the opposite side of the web. of material.

6. The apparatus as recited in claim 5, wherein said first and secondpluralities of spaced-apart folding arms are staggered with respect tothe adhesive stripes formed on the sides of the web material.

7. The apparatus as recited in claim 6, wherein said first and secondfolding arms are mounted for pivotable movement on off-set crank shafts,so that said arms alternately move upward and over each pleat of thematerial to complete the fold.

8. The apparatus as recited in claim 5, wherein each of said first andsecond folding arms additionally comprise flexible curls secured on thefree ends thereof.

9. The apparatus as recited in claim ll additionally comprising anadjustable spindle for supporting the roll containing said web ofmaterial, said spindle including opposite adjustable handles, threadablyengaged to said spindle for aligning said web of material with respectto said apparatus.

10. An apparatus for manufacturing honeycomb structure from a continuousweb of material and an adhesive comprising:

a perforating roller mounted on the apparatus and having at least oneperforating blade axially disposed on its circumference for contactacross the width of the continuous web of material;

a pressure roller urged against the perforating blade for capturing theweb of material so that the movement of the perforating edge against thepressure roller forms a plurality of perforations through one side ofthe web;

a first adhesive distributor following said perforating roller, having aplurality of spaced-apart nozzles in contact with the moving web ofmaterial and pressure means for urging the adhesive into saiddistributor and through said nozzles to form a plurality of spaced-apartparallel stripes on at least one side of the web;

second adhesive distributor having spaced-apart nozzles in contact withthe opposite side of the moving web of material and connected to saidpressure means so as to from a plurality of spaced-apart paralleladhesive stripes on the reverse side of the web;

a first plurality of parallel spaced-apart folding arms following saidfirst and second adhesive distributors pivotably coupled on one side ofsaid web and having a first fork-shaped member for contacting the webbetween the adhesive stripes on one side thereof, a second plurality ofparallel spaced-apart incrimental output means folding said folding armengaging the opposite sides of said folded honeycomb structure foradvancing said folded structure in proportion to the thickness of thematerial being folded; and

an adjustable spindle for supporting the roll containing said web ofmaterial,said spindle including opposite adjustable handles threadablyengaged to said spindle for aligning said web of material with respectto the apparatus.

1. An apparatus for manufacturing honeycomb structure from a continuousweb of material and an adhesive comprising: cutting means for forming atleast a partial cut at spaced-apart transverse intervals in the web ofmaterial, a first nozzle emitting adhesive striping means for applying afirst plurality of longitudinally disposed adhesive strips spaced aparton at least one side of the material, a second nozzle emitting adhesivestriping means for applying a second plurality of longitudinallydisposed adhesive stripes spaced apart on the obverse side of saidmaterial, said second plurality of stripes being in staggeredrelationship with said first plurality of adhesive stripes, foldingmeans with fork-shaped arms, following said first and second adhesivemeans for folding adjacent adhesively striped surfaces together in anaccordion-like pattern while simultaneously applying pressure to thefold to compress the adhesive bond, said cutting means forming said cutbefore applying said adhesive stripes and, incrimental output meansfollowing said folding arms engaging the opposite sides of said foldedhoneycomb structure for advancing said folded structure in proportion tothe thickness of the material being folded, so that the folded honeycombstructure is continuously produced at the output of the apparatus. 2.The apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein said cutting meanscomprises a perforating roller, having at least one perforating bladeaxially disposed on its circumference, and a pressure roller mountedadjacent to said perforating roller for capturing the web of materialtherebetween so that the movement of said perforating edge against saidpressure roller forms a plurality of perforations in one side of saidweb.
 3. The apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein said first adhesivemeans comprises an adhesive distributor having a plurality ofspaced-apart nozzles in contact with the moving web of material, andpressure means for urging the adhesive into said distributor and throughsaid nozzles to form a plurality of spaced-apart parallel stripes on atleast one side of the material.
 4. The apparatus as recited in claim 3,wherein said second adhesive means comprises an adhesive distributorhaving a plurality of spaced-apart nozzles in contact with said movingweb of material and pressure means for urging said adhesive into saiddistributor and through said nozzles to form a plurality of spaced-apartparallel stripes on the obverse side of the material.
 5. The apparatusas recited in claim 1, wherein said folding means comprises a firstplurality of parallel spaced-apart folding arms pivotably coupled on oneside of said perforated web of material and forming a fIrst fork-shapedmember and a second plurality of oppositely directed parallelspaced-apart folding arms staggered with respect to said first set offolding arms and pivotably coupled for forming a second fork-shapedmember to operate alternately with respect to said first arms againstthe opposite side of the web of material.
 6. The apparatus as recited inclaim 5, wherein said first and second pluralities of spaced-apartfolding arms are staggered with respect to the adhesive stripes formedon the sides of the web material.
 7. The apparatus as recited in claim6, wherein said first and second folding arms are mounted for pivotablemovement on off-set crank shafts, so that said arms alternately moveupward and over each pleat of the material to complete the fold.
 8. Theapparatus as recited in claim 5, wherein each of said first and secondfolding arms additionally comprise flexible curls secured on the freeends thereof.
 9. The apparatus as recited in claim 1 additionallycomprising an adjustable spindle for supporting the roll containing saidweb of material, said spindle including opposite adjustable handles,threadably engaged to said spindle for aligning said web of materialwith respect to said apparatus.
 10. An apparatus for manufacturinghoneycomb structure from a continuous web of material and an adhesivecomprising: a perforating roller mounted on the apparatus and having atleast one perforating blade axially disposed on its circumference forcontact across the width of the continuous web of material; a pressureroller urged against the perforating blade for capturing the web ofmaterial so that the movement of the perforating edge against thepressure roller forms a plurality of perforations through one side ofthe web; a first adhesive distributor following said perforating roller,having a plurality of spaced-apart nozzles in contact with the movingweb of material and pressure means for urging the adhesive into saiddistributor and through said nozzles to form a plurality of spaced-apartparallel stripes on at least one side of the web; a second adhesivedistributor having spaced-apart nozzles in contact with the oppositeside of the moving web of material and connected to said pressure meansso as to from a plurality of spaced-apart parallel adhesive stripes onthe reverse side of the web; a first plurality of parallel spaced-apartfolding arms following said first and second adhesive distributorspivotably coupled on one side of said web and having a first fork-shapedmember for contacting the web between the adhesive stripes on one sidethereof, a second plurality of parallel spaced-apart folding armspivotably coupled for forming a second fork-shaped member to operatealternately with respect to said first folding arms against the oppositeside of the web between adhesive stripes thereof so as to fold adjacentadhesively striped surfaces together in an accordion-like pattern whilesimultaneously applying pressure to the fold to compress the adhesivebond, said first and second folding arms being mounted for pivotablemovement on off-set crank shafts so that said arms alternately moveupward and over each pleat of the material to complete the fold;incrimental output means folding said folding arm engaging the oppositesides of said folded honeycomb structure for advancing said foldedstructure in proportion to the thickness of the material being folded;and an adjustable spindle for supporting the roll containing said web ofmaterial,said spindle including opposite adjustable handles threadablyengaged to said spindle for aligning said web of material with respectto the apparatus.